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Thursday, May 11, 2017

Fired From Job So What’s My Next Steps

May 11, 2017

Dear Cathy:

I am a black male and I was fired from my job. I was fired from my job at a tire company in my city. I was texted by my manager and told this through a text and told to bring in my uniforms.

I did as asked and brought in my uniforms and 20 minutes after I left the job site, I was called private by a police officer and asked if I stated that I was going to shoot up the building.

I’m a felon and the reason I was told I was fired is because I left without telling management when I’ve been told before that as long as we let someone know, i.e. the head technician or another employee, when we were leaving or going on break, it would be okay. I did so and this is the conclusion. I’m really pissed off this happened to me. What can I do? Fired, Georgia

Dear Fired:

First of all sorry about your dilemma. At this time you want to sit back and take a deep breath simply because when black men are fired from jobs, even when they are not felons, one of the tactics used in most workplaces is to have them arrested by telling the police that they are violent, even when they are not.

Therefore, you need to really watch your next move. First of all, go to your local Department of Labor (www.DOL.gov) as soon as possible and file for unemployment benefits. If approved this will take at least 30 days so it’s important not to wait around to do this. Make sure you state your reason for being fired as "Wrongful Termination" and let them know you plan on filing a lawsuit and claim with EEOC.gov. This statement need to be on your paperwork at the unemployment office.

Many states will pay you around $300 dollars for 20 to 26 weeks. However, the laws has changed in many places today and I am not up to date on the latest changes. It seems like they had it in for you and probably want to hire one of their relatives or friends to take your place so they had to get rid of you. Was it right - no? Was it legal - no.

I don’t know any other circumstances about your job or how long you were there, but jobs especially in your state is definitely not on the side of employees. I think Georgia is a “Right To Work” state, which means employers have a right to fire you at will or any time, but that doesn’t mean you should not fight back. That’s up to you.

You can contact the www.EEOC.gov office and lodge a complaint, which you should, while you seek out other employment, or get a lawyer or find a law student at a law library to help you with filing a complaint. However, since you left the job under those types of circumstances, I am sure you don’t want to go back to that job, but you could ask to go to another location, if they have one.

Go on google.com and put in the name of the company and then put in the words – racism, discrimination, black employees, and if you can prove that this company, purposely discriminates against black people, then this will help any type of potential lawsuit you might have down the line. If you can find other black employees that they have fired, at least 3 or 4, then you can file a class action lawsuit.

Most jobs are suppose to give you verbal or written warnings before termination, but again Georgia is a "Right To Work" state. They can actually fire you because they don’t like the way you look and this happens all the time. Is it legal – no, but they do it all the time.

It’s unfortunate but getting fired by text might even be legal in many workplaces today unless it violates existing company policy or a pre-existing employment contract.Since you have been fired, now is the time to seriously look at your financial situation. You might need to move in with a friend or relative, until you gain gain other employment or start a business.On the other hand getting fired can be a blessing in disguise, it's a chance for you to draw your benefits while you seek out potential business opportunities. Use your own skills, talents and passions to start a business. Starting a business is not rocket science and today many people are starting businesses around growing foods so check out these opportunities, but whatever you do it needs to be your passion.